Jagadish Shettar finally revealed reason for BJP defeat in Karnataka Election

Congress has won a clear majority in Karnataka Assembly Elections.  According to the Election Commission of India, Congress has won 135 seats out of a total 224 Assembly seats and the ruling BJP bagged 65 seats. JD(S) has come third winning 19 seats. Jagadish Shettar finally revealed reason for BJP defeat in Karnataka Election.

Jagdish Shettar speaking to reporters said that the Lingayat people of North Karnataka have supported the Congress. Hearing one’s words, he gave trouble to Lingayat leaders and said that people will not tolerate this.

BJP insulted me too, so I also left BJP. He said, “I resigned and joined the Congress because my self-respect was threatened.” He said that the party will be with him. Now the issue of CM selection is going on. After that, will decide about the minister position. Let’s wait and see,” he said

Jagadish Shettar reveals how he was humiliated by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP national president J P Nadda, and why he believes BJP national General Secretary B L Santosh wants to weaken the Lingayat leadership within the party.

Look at the number of Lingayats fielded by the BJP and Congress and how many of these won from both the parties. Out of the 46 Lingayat candidates fielded by the Congress, 37 won and out of the 69 Lingayats fielded by the BJP, only 15 won their seats.

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This is the price you pay for humiliating leaders like Jagadish Shettar and before me stalwarts like B S Yediyurappa. Why was Yediyurappa asked to resign just two years? Why and who did not allow him to finish his five-year term?

Just because they wanted to weaken and gradually finish off strong Lingayat leaders from the BJP. People are not fools; they have their eyes open; they know how you ill-treated us. The Lingayat community who substantially contribute to electoral successes because of their vote share showed you your right position in Karnataka.

In North Karnataka, wherever the Congress fielded Lingayat candidates, and even in those constituencies where Lingayats are strong and from which non-Lingayats from Congress contested, with all due respect, because of Jagadish Shettar, the Congress got the votes of the Lingayats.

The Lingayat community in Karnataka makes for roughly 14 per cent of the 53 million voters. Taken together, they decide the winners in over 90 of the 224 assembly segments in the state.

Interestingly, the Congress which had just 13 Lingayat MLAs in the last assembly, romped home with 37 Lingayats in 2023, which many political observers believe led to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s downfall in the state.

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One of the most prominent Lingayat leaders next only to former chief minister B S Yediyurappa, according to his own reckoning and its six-time MLA from the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, who quit the BJP or rather was so humiliated that he had no option but to quit the party is Jagadish Shettar, the former BJP chief minister.